During the "Heroic Age of Exploration," the period in which Shackleton's
1914-1916 British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition took place,
Antarctic expeditions often became ordeals of suffering. At the time, polar
explorers were revered for their sacrifices and held up as heroes, albeit
often tragic ones.

At this same time, Shackleton distinguished himself as a hero,
not only among the masses, but also among the 27 menofficers,
scientists and seamenwho were his crew members on the expedition.
Shackleton earned the respect of these men, not to mention the respect of
millions today, by being a leader who put his men's well-being, both mental
and physical, above all else.

Shackleton's extraordinary leadership skills contributed to these
27 men successfully braving the nearly two years they were stranded in the
Antarctic, when the expedition ship, the Endurance, was trapped and then crushed
in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea.

Shackleton's accomplishment as a leader started with his selection of the Endurance
crew. He handpicked some members, including two who had served him faithfully and
performed exceptionally on a previous expedition. To recruit the rest, it is said
that he posted the following notice:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold.
Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful.
Honour and recognition in case of success.

Shackleton's recruitment notice was brutally honest about the discomforts
and dangers to be faced. When the Endurance crew members indeed encountered
all of the above-mentioned conditions, they accepted them as best they could,
for they had been forewarned. And they looked to Shackleton, whom they called
"The Boss," for guidance about how to survive the elements, both physically and
emotionally.

When the Endurance became locked in pack ice, Shackleton ordered the men
to pursue every possible means of extricating the ship from the icy jaws of the
Weddell Sea, including using ice picks and saws in attempts to reach leads
sighted sometimes hundreds of yards away. While these labors were ultimately
futile, it was useful to have the men experience this firsthand, so they would
neither question their predicament of having to "winter in the pack" nor become
bitter with "what ifs," such as "If we had only been allowed to cut our way out of
the ice, we'd have reached the Antarctic continent by now."

Shackleton's calm and confidence in the more dire circumstances
were heartening to his crew. Commenting on Shackleton's reaction to
their inability to free the Endurance from the ice, Alexander Macklin,
the ship's doctor, said, "It was at this moment Shackleton...showed one
of his sparks of real greatness. He did not...show...the slightest sign
of disappointment. He told us simply and calmly that we would have to spend
the winter in the pack."

Shackleton sustained morale and created a unified team by keeping
everyone busyand equal. For example, during the long months in which
the crew lived on the Endurance as a winter station, Shackleton ignored
the predominant class system of the time and had scientists scrubbing
floors alongside seaman and university professors eating beside Yorkshire
fisherman.

In addition, Shackleton encouraged more than work-based camaraderie.
The men played football on the ice, participated in nightly sing-alongs
and toasts to loved ones back home, organized highly competitive dog-sled
racesand even collectively shaved their heads, posing for expedition
photographer Frank Hurley.

In the few circumstances in which crew members did not subscribe to the teamwork
philosophy, such as when seaman John Vincent was reported to be bullying others,
Shackleton swiftly reprimanded them, setting an example. Called to Shackleton's
cabin, Vincent left it humbled and demoted.

While Shackleton was called "The Boss" by his men, he did not differentiate
himself from them. When the crew moved off the debilitated ship to a camp on the
ice, Shackleton ensured that neither he nor his officers received preferential
treatment.

"There was only 18 skin [sleeping] bags & we cast lots for them," wrote ship's
carpenter Chippy McNeish. "I was lucky for the first time in my life for I drew one."

"There was some crooked work in the drawing," able seaman Bakewell wrote,
"as Sir Ernest, Mr. Wild...Captain Worsley and some of the other officers
all drew wool [sleeping] bags. The fine warm fur bags all went to the men under them."

In addition, in an attempt to help his crew get over the trauma of abandoning
the Endurance, Shackleton literally served his men: Rising early in the morning,
he made hot milk and hand-delivered it to every tent in the camp.

Shackleton's mantra of unity and show of humanity was infectious.
While his men were suffering from the most terrible deprivation, they often
rose to his example and showed tremendous compassion for each other. When
First Officer Lionel Greenstreet spilled his much-needed milk on the ice,
he seemed almost despondent over the loss, and, one by one, the seven men who
shared his tent silently poured some of their equally precious ration into his
mug, refilling it.

During the brutal, seven-day lifeboat journey to Elephant Island, Shackleton
literally stood tall, boosting the morale of his suffering men by standing at the
tiller, hour after hour. Later, during the 17-day sail to South Georgia Island,
Shackleton monitored the health of his five companions constantly. Captain Frank
Worsley later wrote, "Whenever Shackleton notices that a man seems extra cold and
shivering, he immediately orders another hot drink served to all." Worsley explained
that Shackleton was careful not to single out the man suffering the most, for he would
not want to frighten him about his condition.

In the face of changing circumstances and constant danger, Shackleton
remained positive and decisive, which buoyed his crew. Further, throughout the
22-month Endurance expedition, Shackleton was able to bring the best in each of his men.

Each crew member contributed to the team's survival, from Captain Frank
Worsley, whose exceptional navigation guided the men to both Elephant and
South Georgia Islands; to carpenter Chippy McNeish, who reinforced the lifeboats;
to cook Charles Green, who created meals day after day with limited resources;
to Alexander Macklin and James McIlroy, the two doctors, who saved steward Perce
Blackborow from gangrene resulting from frostbite; to second-in-command Frank Wild,
who served as leader of the 21 men on Elephant Island after the departure of
Shackleton and companions for South Georgia.

Twenty-eight ordinary-turned-extraordinary men, led by Shackleton's
example, survived nearly two years of unimaginable hardship at the end of
the Earth.